Matt,

Welcome to the world of building a real kit the old fashioned way. I've got one of these under construction. If I can get a chance in the next couple of days I pull the wings out and get some pictures for you.

This plane was originally designed by Chuck Hollinger in the mid 50’s as a 3-channel plane (I’ve got a set of the original plans from the ‘50’s). It’s known as being one of the most accurate scale models of the Cub out there. But by the same token of being an older design, it’s a bit more fragile and won’t take the abuse (constant high stress aerobatics) some of the other Cub kits being produced today will take, but will stand up to the riggers of being a daily flyer if treated properly.

For power I would recommend an old OS .30 FP if you can one or the new OS .32 (it’ll fly on a Veco .19 or OS .20/.25 if kept light). Anything more is almost too much power. It’ll take all the scale detailing you want to give it, but don’t expect to perform 3D or lots of aerobatics beyond what the prototype did in a prototype fashion. The design of this plane makes for a good flyer, but it’s not the best in higher winds. It’ll float and float on landing, but if you get laxed it’ll also snap roll faster than stink on . It’s also a rudder plane, so you’ll have to know how to use the sideways motion of the left stick and how to lead into and out of a bank using rudder (critical at low airspeeds). Overall you’ll love it once flying.

When you drill out the aft fuselage for the horizontal stab dowels be very careful and take your time. This is the alignment for the stab and is probably the most critical part of the build. Also build it with yellow carpenters glue. I think on this bird it gives a stronger fuselage than CA would, and is more tolerant of parts that aren’t cut perfectly. For the finish, the best results will be from using silk and dope, but Sig Koverall and dope will work out just as well.

Hogflyer